Electrics and gas
A garden room is heated from the house boiler and the pipe run under the path was not exposed. What leak in that run is unknown?
Any leak in the pipe run under the path is unknown. The garden room is heated from the house boiler, and that run was not exposed, so the survey has not seen the pipes, the joints or the insulation beneath the path. What was recorded is that the room takes its heat from the house boiler. The buried length was not inspected. No gas test was carried out, and a warm room on the day does not prove the hidden pipes are sound.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Heating the garden room from the house boiler means pipes leave the house and cross the garden, here under a path. Those pipes can corrode, part at a joint, or lose insulation where nobody can see them. The surveyor can see the boiler indoors and the emitters in the room. They cannot see the link once the path covers it. The visit did not test the gas appliance and did not pressure-test the heating circuit. Both sit outside what this inspection demonstrated.
Ask a heating engineer to trace the run under the path and to expose it if that is what it takes to see the pipes. Keep any gas-safety check of the boiler as a separate instruction. Tell the solicitor the garden room is on the house boiler and the buried pipes were not seen. Do not assume a leak is there, and do not assume the run is sound. The survey has not certified the heating.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the pipe run under the path left unexposed?
- Is any leak in that buried run therefore unknown?
- Was the house boiler left without a gas test on this visit?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the buried heating run as unseen and untested.
- Ask a heating engineer to trace the pipes under the path.
- Keep a gas-safety check of the boiler as a separate instruction.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the garden room was warm, can the pipes be signed off?
No. Warmth shows that heat arrived on the day, not that the run under the path is sound. A leak can be small, intermittent, or still in the future. The pipes were not exposed. No pressure test and no gas test were done. The survey has not certified the heating, warm room or not.
Does the house boiler warranty cover the garden pipe run?
The survey has not read a warranty and has not said the buried run is included. A boiler warranty is about the appliance on its own terms, which may not extend under a path. Ask the solicitor or the warranty holder what is actually covered. This inspection did not see the pipes and did not test them.